Link: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/cenk-uygur/mitt-romney-richer-means-_b_1723928.html

Mitt Romney recently said in Israel that Palestinians don't have as high a GDP per capita as Israelis do because their culture is not as good as Jewish culture. That is both deeply racist and deeply stupid.

Link: http://www.commondreams.org/view/2012/07/31-10

Romney’s world is one of special relationships, particularly with Britain, Israel and Poland — the three nations he’s visiting. It’s also a world of special enmities — against Iran — and unending suspicions — about China and Russia. For Romney, there are three types of countries: countries that are with us; countries that are against us; and countries that will be against us, sooner or later. If this seems like foreign policy out of a 20th-century history book — or the George W. Bush neocon playbook — that’s because it is.

Link: http://occupycorporatism.com/the-assault-on-2nd-amendment-precursor-to-martial-law-in-america/

Concerning the false flag staged attack in Aurora, Colorado, the National Rifle Association is pushing for the right to bear arms and the retention of our 2nd Amendment while the talking heads at CNN want us to believe the globalist’s lie that America would be safer if semi-automatic weapons were banned from purchase. In a commentary piece, they say that America’s violent culture can be directly blamed on our ability to have guns to protect ourselves. Never does the author of the article mention that the increase in violent films, television shows and music could be a factor in brainwashing average Americans to think enacting violent outbursts would be acceptable.

Link: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/48400032/ns/weather/#.UBjph6DWiUo

American corn and soybean crops are in their worst condition in more than two decades, and hot and dry weather is expected to bake much of America’s farmland for the next couple of weeks.

Link: http://www.zerohedge.com/news/fed-gold-price-manipulation

Lately various media outlets have been swamped with stories and allegations of precious metal manipulation ranging from the arcane, to the bizarre to the outright ridiculous. At issue is not that these claims of price fraud are unfounded - they very well may be completely true

Link: http://wearewideawake.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2392&Itemid=258

U.S. national security officials consider Israel to be a genuine counterintelligence threat. "The CIA considers Israel its No. 1 counterintelligence threat in the agency's Near East Division, the group that oversees spying across the Middle East, according to current and former officials. Counterintelligence is the art of protecting national secrets from spies. This means the CIA believes that U.S. national secrets are safer from other Middle Eastern governments than from Israel.

Link: http://www.aclu.org/blog/national-security-technology-and-liberty/ninth-circuit-gives-aclus-no-fly-list-clients-their

Last week, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals unanimously ruled that the ACLU’s lawsuit challenging the U.S. government’s secretive No Fly List should go forward. This decision is a true victory for our clients and all Americans. More than two years ago, 15 U.S. citizens and permanent residents, including four military veterans, were denied boarding on planes. None of them know why this happened. And no government authority has ever given them an explanation or a fair chance to clear their names.

Link: http://current.com/community/93855283_foreign-troops-to-confiscate-american-guns-under-un-treaty.htm

For those who’ve been wondering how the domestic gun grabbers or the United Nations think they’re going to get away with gun control here at home, one need look no further than Article 15 of the UN’s Arms Trade Treaty.

Link: http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2012/07/25-6

Sandy Weill, former CEO of banking giant Citigroup and widely regarding as the creator of the "financial supermarket" model that dominates global capitalism, made waves today by saying that he believes the largest US banking conglomerates are unnecessary, harmful, and should be broken up.

Link: http://www.infowars.com/romney-will-fight-medical-marijuana-tooth-and-nail/

Romney just told patients who use medical marijuana who to vote for. In an appearance at a town hall meeting in New Hampshire, Romney made it clear that if he is elected president he will not legalize medical marijuana, despite the fact that people rely on the medicine each day for wellness and to alleviate chronic illness.

Link: http://www.ipsnews.net/2012/07/scientists-discover-new-threats-to-corals/

CAIRNS, Australia, Jul 24 2012 (IPS) - Most corals thrive only in shallow waters, where there is enough light for them to grow. But the rapid rise in sea level, due to the melting of polar ice, is making these conditions increasingly scarce. Measurements from tropical seas around the world reveal that the rise in sea level (3.3 mm/year) is happening at a faster rate than many corals have grown in the past 10,000 years, according to new research released at the 12th International Coral Reef Symposium (ICRS).

Link: http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=32037

The U.S. heat wave is slowly shaking the foundations of American politics. It may take years for the deep rumble to evolve into an above ground, institution-shattering earthquake, but U.S. society has changed for good. The heat wave has helped convince tens of millions of Americans that climate change is real, overpowering the fake science and right-wing media - funded by corporate cash - to convince Americans otherwise.

Link: http://www.alternet.org/drugs/156453/hundreds_of_medical_marijuana_supporters_protest_obama_in_oakland_as_feds_escalate_war_on_pot/

Hundreds of supporters of President Obama turned out to see him at Oakland’s Fox Theater on Monday afternoon. They lined up for blocks along Telegraph Avenue for the opportunity to see President Obama as he traveled from one fundraising event to another. Before the First Motorcade passed them, a march of several hundred people instructed them variously to “Smoke weed every day,” “Stop the madness, spark a spliff,” and demand that their candidate keep his promise.

Link: http://www.commondreams.org/view/2012/07/24-0

In the Amazonian backcountry, tribes are challenging construction of the world's third-largest dam—by dismantling it. Here's what they can teach us about standing up to power. The Belo Monte Dam is the most controversial of dozens of dams planned in the Amazon region and threatens the lives and livelihoods of thousands of Amazonian people, plants, and animals.

Link: http://www.commondreams.org/view/2012/07/24-9

During the 2008 campaign, presidential candidate Barack Obama made a pledge to raise the minimum wage to $9.50 per hour by 2011. Promises like this one inspired a generation of young voters, excited long-neglected progressive voters and gave hope to millions of his supporters across the country.

Link: http://www.commondreams.org/view/2012/07/24-10

If two dozen billionaire families were combining their wealth to effectively buy the 2012 election, it would be time for patriots to mount a bold response on behalf of democracy itself. Well, that time has come. US Senator Bernie Sanders, I-Vermont, revealed for the first time in Senate testimony Tuesday that at least twenty-three billionaire families have contributed a minimum of $250,000 each so far in this year’s campaigns.

Link: http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2012/07/24-6

"It is past time that the president told the American people in no uncertain terms that he will not cut Social Security on his watch." Sanders questioned why Obama has not defended Social Security against Republican calls for deep cuts in the program that benefits some 55 million retired and disabled Americans, widows and orphans. "I do not believe that we should cut Social Security," Sanders said in the speech. "I would like to know, and I think the American people would like to know, if President Obama feels the same way.

Link: http://www.aclu.org/blog/free-speech/photographing-police-what-happens-when-police-think-your-phone-holds-evidence-crime

The Washington, DC chief of police on Friday issued a new “General Order” to members of the police department on “Video Recording, Photographing, and Audio Recording of Metropolitan Police Department Members by the Public.” The order, which was part of the settlement of an ACLU lawsuit, includes some very interesting, groundbreaking provisions.

Link: http://theeconomiccollapseblog.com/archives/100-million-poor-people-in-america-and-39-other-facts-about-poverty-that-will-blow-your-mind

Every single day more Americans fall into poverty. This should deeply alarm you no matter what political party you belong to and no matter what your personal economic philosophy is. Right now, approximately 100 million Americans are either "poor" or "near poor". For a lot of people "poverty" can be a nebulous concept, so let's define it. The poverty level as defined by the federal government in 2010 was $11,139 for an individual and $22,314 for a family of four. Could you take care of a family of four on less than $2000 a month? Millions upon millions of families are experiencing a tremendous amount of pain in this economy, and no matter what "solutions" we think are correct, the reality is that we all should have compassion on them. Sadly, things are about to get even worse. The next major economic downturn is rapidly approaching, and when it hits the statistics posted below are going to look even more horrendous.

Link: http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2012/07/promises-about-another-american-century-are-pretty-lies/260241/

History shows that projecting a nation-state's trajectory nine decades into the future is folly. Our politicians better be preparing for anything as they pander. Circa 1912, it would've been a phenomenal feat to predict the events and outcome of Word War I, and impossible for anyone on earth to anticipate the rise of Adolph Hitler and Joseph Stalin, the Axis alliance, the bombing of Pearl Harbor, the events of World War II, and America's subsequent place in the world. Nor could any person in pre-World War I America imagine the partition of Europe by Soviet communists, the nuclear arms race, the Cold War or its end. Neither could the British nor the French nor the Germans nor the Japanese nor the Russians nor the Poles anticipate the respective courses they would take over the ensuing nine decades.

Link: http://www.commondreams.org/view/2012/07/24-2

Three simple numbers that add up to global catastrophe - and that make clear who the real enemy is. If the pictures of those towering wildfires in Colorado haven't convinced you, or the size of your AC bill this summer, here are some hard numbers about climate change: June broke or tied 3,215 high-temperature records across the United States. That followed the warmest May on record for the Northern Hemisphere – the 327th consecutive month in which the temperature of the entire globe exceeded the 20th-century average, the odds of which occurring by simple chance were 3.7 x 10-99, a number considerably larger than the number of stars in the universe.

Link: http://bellaciao.org/en/spip.php?article22043

Several Palestinian journalists in Jerusalem boycotted a press conference held by U.S. Secretary of state, Hilary Clinton, in Jerusalem after Israeli security officers ordered them to undergo a strip search before they enter the conference room at the David Citadel Hotel in Jerusalem.

Link: http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2012/07/18-4

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday blamed Iran for a bomb blast which killed at least six Israeli tourists in the Bulgarian resort of Burgas. The Israeli response, Netanyahu promised, will be powerful.

Link: http://www.aclu.org/national-security/al-aulaqi-v-panetta

The American Civil Liberties Union and the Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR) have filed a lawsuit challenging the government’s targeted killing of three U.S. citizens in drone strikes far from any armed conflict zone.

Link: http://www.beaconequity.com/breaking-assassination-attempt-of-hillary-clinton-in-israel-2012-07-17/

Iran’s Al-Alam News reports an assassination attempt of U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton during her visit to Israel Sunday. Interestingly, no mention of the incident was reported by western media outlets.

Link: http://www.alternet.org/story/156328/how_banks_and_politicians_let_one_company_come_back_from_the_dead_to_keep_abusing_workers/

One sweatshop steel company endangered workers, stiffed creditors, got government contracts--and when caught, simply wiped its slate clean with bankruptcy. The rich are different, and so are their bankruptcies. For most Americans, politicians and banks have made bankruptcy an onerous, embarrassing process with lifelong consequences. But bankruptcy means something very different if you’re a giant corporation

Link: http://bellaciao.org/en/spip.php?article22041

Five Olympia Food Co-op members who had sued to overturn the store’s boycott of Israeli goods must pay $160,000 in damages, the result of a judge’s prior ruling that the lawsuit was an illegal Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation. SLAPPs are defined as nuisance lawsuits designed to stifle free speech and create onerous legal costs for those who choose to exercise their free-speech rights. SLAPPs are illegal under a state law that the defendants’ attorney, Bruce Johnson, and another staff attorney at Davis Wright Tremaine helped draft.

Link: http://stopsmartmeters.org/2012/07/14/doctors-warning-american-academy-of-environmental-medicine-recommends-patients-avoid-smart-meter-radiation/

The American Academy of Environmental Medicine (AAEM), an “international association of physicians and other professionals interested in the clinical aspects of humans and their environment,” today released recommendations for patients with a broad array of illnesses and symptoms to avoid exposure to digital smart meters now being deployed internationally by governments and utilities.

Link: http://wsws.org/articles/2012/jul2012/econ-j13.shtml

Foreclosure notifications increased for the second consecutive month in June, as lenders rushed to foreclose homes in the wake of the Obama administration's settlement with the largest banks on mortgage fraud. RealtyTrac, the online foreclosure marketplace, said that 311,010 properties started foreclosure during the second quarter of the year, a 9 percent increase from the previous quarter and a 6 percent increase from the second quarter of 2011. The company said in its 2012 midyear report that this was the first year-over-year increase in quarterly foreclosure starts since the fourth quarter of 2009.

Link: http://wsws.org/articles/2012/jul2012/citi-j13.shtml

The drastic wage-slashing in Scranton, Pennsylvania and the bankruptcy of San Bernardino, California should be taken as a warning, not only by municipal workers but by the working class as a whole.

Link: http://dailybail.com/home/bankers-behind-bars-petition-to-put-bankers-in-jail-passes-3.html

The online petition was started 2 days ago, already has more than 366,000 signatures, and is growing by 1,000 names every 3 minutes.

Link: http://www.activistpost.com/2012/07/merck-teams-with-gates-foundation-to.html

At the London Summit on Family Planning (LSFP), the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF) pledged $560 million to their campaign to depopulate underdeveloped nations. World leaders, private-sector corporations, UN representatives and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) attended the LSFP

Link: http://rt.com/usa/news/war-sub-drone-iran-066/

The US Navy has unexpectedly dispatched a fourth aircraft carrier to the Persian Gulf, along with a fleet of underwater drones in what is being considered just the latest move in a series of escalations leading towards a potential war with Iran.

Link: http://www.commondreams.org/view/2012/07/13-2

In Canada's western province of Alberta, Melina Laboucan-Massimo’s community—the Lubicon Lake Nation—has endured a withering toxic tar sands oil assault, an Armageddon against nature few Americans are fully aware of. Here in the once pristine sub-Arctic, tar sands mining operations level vast swaths of boreal forests near native lands, as pipelines burst and spew corrosive chemical-laced tar sands oil into rivers and lakes.

Link: http://www.commondreams.org/view/2012/07/13

Every day brings more reminders of the terrible unfairness that besets our country, the tragic reversal of fortune experienced by millions who once had good lives and steady jobs, now gone.

Link: http://www.latimes.com/news/nation/nationnow/la-na-nn-solar-flare-20120712,0,6885961.story

A heavy-duty solar flare erupted on the surface of the sun midmorning Thursday, and it appeared from early data that a solar storm from the X-class eruption was headed toward Earth.

Link: http://www.newsmax.com/Headline/trillion-deficit-Obama-fourth/2012/07/12/id/445188

The U.S. budget deficit grew by nearly $60 billion in June, remaining on track to exceed $1 trillion for the fourth straight year. Through the first nine months of the budget year, the federal deficit totaled $904.2 billion, the Treasury Department reported Thursday. Read more on Newsmax.com: Obama on Track for Fourth Straight Year of Trillion-Dollar Deficit
Important: Do You Support Pres. Obama's Re-Election? Vote Here Now!

Link: http://www.activistpost.com/2012/07/obama-attacks-largest-medical-cannabis.html

Cannabis is becoming widely recognized for its diverse medical uses, and the trend toward marijuana legalization is clearly on the rise. But someone forgot to tell the Obama administration.

Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail/2012/07/12/250523/israeli-settler-violence-continuation-zionism/

An interview with Ralph Schoenman, author, "Hidden History of Zionism", from Berkeley. The settlements in the West Bank are the little, bloody continuation of this brute policy which is at the heart of Zionist colonization of Palestine. It is an ongoing process with the full might and power of not only the Zionist state but of its sponsors in Washington.”
Israeli settler violence against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank and East al-Quds (Jerusalem) has increased sharply since 2009, says a group of UN agencies and NGOs.

Link: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2172372/Superbugs-chicken-causing-antibiotic-resistant-bladder-infections-linked-million-women-researchers-say.html

The roughly eight million women developing bladder infections in the United States every year may be getting a form of the illness resistant to antibiotics from the chicken they buy at the grocery store.